ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
Government allocates 198.78 LMT food grains under PMGKAY-IV 
8 States starts Lifting food grains against PMGKAY-IV, lifted 1.06 LMT food grains so far
Government supplies 77.42 LMT free food grains to all States/ UTs under PMGKAY-III 
23 States/ UTs lifted full allocation for May-June 2021 under PMGKAY-III
The Government of India announced Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana  to ameliorate the hardship faced by the poor due to economic disruption caused by Corona virus. Under the scheme, free food grains for a period of two months  @ 5 kg per person per month is being distributed to beneficiaries covered under NFSA.
The Government of India has now extended the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Kalyan Ann Yojana for 5 months i.e. July-November 2021 and further allocation of 198.78 LMT food grains have been made under PMGKAY-IV .
Under PMGKAY-IV , lifting has been started by 8 States i.e. Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha, Telangana and Tripura and 1.06 LMT food grains have been lifted upto 28th June, 2021.
Under PMGKAY-III  till 28th June, 2021, Food Corporation of India has supplied 77.42 LMT free food grains to all 36 States/ UTs. 23 States/ UTs i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura and West Bengal have lifted full allocation for May-June 2021. Last date of lifting is 30th June, 2021.
FCI is transporting food grains all across the country to ensure smooth supply to all States/ UT Governments. Since 1st May, 2021, total 2608 food grain rakes have been loaded by FCI i.e. average 45 rakes on daily basis.
FCI has already positioned adequate stocks in all States/ UTs for successful implementation of PMGKAY. At present, 591 LMT wheat and 295 LMT rice  are available under Central Pool.
Ministry of Mines
Union Minister for Coal and Mines Shri Pralhad Joshi reviews mineral exploration projects and activities of Rajasthan
The Union Minister for Mines, Coal and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi chaired review meeting of mineral exploration projects and activities of Rajasthan in New Delhi today. Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal was present in the meeting. Senior representatives of Geological Survey of India , NLC India Limited and Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited  made presentations on the exploration related activities undertaken by them in Rajasthan.
The Mines Minister also took stock of the issues of the organizations related to exploration of minerals including Potash and Lignite in Rajasthan. He asked the representatives to expedite the projects in Rajasthan and directed them to take up the matter with State Government.
Senior officials of the Ministry of Mines and Ministry of Coal including Dr. K. Rajeswara Rao, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Sh. Vinod Kumar Tiwari, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Coal were also present.
Ministry of Science & Technology
Study showing stars of varied ages can co-exist in open clusters, provides clue to stellar evolution in the Milky Way Galaxy
Stars in our Galaxy are formed from the molecular clouds present in the Galaxy. It is believed that the majority of stars in our Galaxy are formed in the star clusters making them important clues to understand the star formation mechanism. Open star clusters are a system of stars bound by gravity in which stars are born from the same molecular clouds. All the stars in a cluster follow the evolutionary sequence as per their initial masses at the time of formation of these stars. Open clusters are also important in probing formation and evolution of Milky Way Galaxy as they are distributed throughout the Galactic disk.
Astronomers at the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences , an autonomous science institute under the Department of Science and Technology  Govt. of India, have found that stars of varied ages can co-exist in open clusters. This challenges earlier understanding that stars in an open cluster have the same age.
The scientists measured the light from three poorly studied open clusters NGC 381, NGC 2360, and Berkeley 68 observed using the 1.3-m telescope at Devasthal situated in the lap of the Himalaya for studying the evolution of stars in these clusters. They found two different stellar evolutionary sequences in the cluster NGC 2360, which has been observed in very few open clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy until now.
The astronomer Dr. Yogesh Joshi and his research student Jayanand Maurya observed thousands of stars in three open clusters NGC 381, NGC 2360, and Berkeley 68. The clusters are found to be relatively older, having ages between 446 Million years to 1778 million years.
Other than the stellar evolution, the researchers also studied the dynamical evolution of these clusters for the first time. The mass distributions of stars belonging to the clusters have shown the preferential distribution of massive stars in the inner part of the clusters while low mass stars are found towards outer region of the clusters.
It is believed that some of the very low mass stars have in fact, left their parent clusters and may be roaming as a free star like our own Sun. Their study lent important insight about the stellar and dynamical evolution of these clusters. These scientists are further aiming to do an in-depth analysis of many more open star clusters in near future using the observational facilities available at their institute along with the supplementary data provided by the space missions.
Their study has been recently published in 'Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,' a leading journal in the field of astronomy and astrophysics published by the OXFORD University Press in UK.
Figure: Picture of three open star clusters under study
(Publication: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 494, pp. 4713, April 2020.
For more details, Dr. Yogesh Chandra Joshi  can be contacted.)
PIB Headquarters
75th anniversary of Quit India movement: Pledge for New India taken
New India Pledge was taken today in various Central Government Offices in in the State as part of 75th anniversary of Quit India movement.
Shri. E. Marappan Additional Director General led the pledge taking in Press Information Bureau, Thiruvananthapuram under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Thiruvananthapuram. Shri Issac Eappen, Assistant Minister led the pledge taking in Press Information Bureau, Kochi office.
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Cabinet
Cabinet approves the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws  Bill, 2020
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the following: -
- Introduction of the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws  Bill, 2020
- Ex-post facto to 21 posts of Directors, one each in 20 IIITs  and one in IIITDM Kurnool 
- Ex-post facto to 21 posts of Registrars, one each in 20 IITs  and one in IIITDM Kurnool 
Impact
The Bill will declare the remaining 5 IIITs-PPP along with the existing 15 Indian Institutes of Information Technology in Public Private Partnership mode as 'Institutions of National Importance' with powers to award degrees. This will entitle them to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology  or Master of Technology  or Ph.D degree as issued by a University or Institution of National Importance. It will also enable the Institutes to attract enough students required to develop a strong research base in the country in the field of information technology.
Details
- Introduction of the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws  Bill, 2020; for amending the principal Acts of 2014 and 2017
- to grant statutory status to five Indian Institutes of Information Technology in Public Private Partnership mode at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur and declare them as Institutions of National Importance along with already existing 15 Indian Institutes of Information Technology under the Indian Institutes of Information Technology  Act, 2017.
The objective of the approval is for formalization of IIITs at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur. These IIITs are already functioning as Societies registered under Societies Registration Act of 1860. They will now be covered under the IIIT  Act, 2017, similar to the other 15 IIITs established under the scheme in PPP mode. Further, IIITDM Kurnool has been established as per the IIIT Act, 2014 and is functioning with the other 4 IIITs namely IIIT Allahabad, IIITM Gwalior, IIITDM Jabalpur, IIITDM Kancheepuram. The post of Director and Registrar in these IIITs are already existing and the present proposal merely formalizes them without any additional financial outgo.
Background
- IIITs are envisaged to promote higher education and research in the field of Information Technology.
- Under the Scheme of Setting up of 20 new IIITs in Public Private Partnership  mode as approved by the Union Cabinet on 26.11.2010, 15 IIITs are already covered by the IIIT  Act, 2017, while remaining 5 IIITs are to be included under the Schedule of the Act.
The Indian Institutes of Information Technology Act of 2014 and Indian Institutes of Information Technology  Act, 2017 are the unique initiatives of the Government of India to impart knowledge in the field of Information Technology to provide solutions to the challenges faced by the country.
Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
More than 3,000 Divyang Jan in Hingoli receive assistive devices
The government is committed to work for the welfare of Divyang Jan: Union Minister Ramdas Athavale
Mumbai / Hingoli, 19 August 2021
More than 3,000 Divyang Jan  in Hingoli, Maharashtra received aids and assistive devices today. The devices were distributed virtually from Mumbai, by Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale, as part of ‘Samajik Adhikarita Shivir’, organized by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities  in association with ALIMCO . The devices have been given under the ADIP Scheme  of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India.
Amidst the prevailing unprecedented situation faced by the society due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Minister graced the occasion virtually from Mumbai’s Aliyavar Jung National Institute of Speech and Hearing Disabilities, in Bandra. Amidst the prevailing unprecedented situation faced by the society due to COVID-19, special measures had been taken by Government for the welfare of Persons with Disabilities . Around 2.75 crore rupees worth of assistive devices were distributed to 3260 senior citizens and persons with disabilities in Hingoli through virtual presence.
Speaking at the event, Shri Athawale said that the government is working towards the overall development of Divyang Jan and is committed to provide them all necessary help. He also added that the Ministry has been in forefront in providing assistance to them during the challenging time of COVID-19. He added that the society has empathy and good will towards Divyang, which will help boost their morale.
The event was virtually graced by Hingoli MP Hemant Patil; ALIMCO CMD D.R.Sarin; General Manager ALIMCO Col. P. K. Dube and others from the Hingoli distribution camp.
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
Khelo India Zonal Archery tournament held successfully across 5 SAI NCOEs on May Day
The occasion of May Day remained momentous for young archers across India as they performed their best at the Khelo India Zonal Archery Tournament on Sunday. The tournament, organized by the Archery Association of India , saw participation from 600 archers across 4 Zones. The venues were Sports Authority of India National Centres of Excellence  in Sonepat, Imphal, Kolkata, Guwahati and Aurangabad.
Recurve and Compound Archers  participated across the Senior, Junior and Sub-Junior Categories at the SAI NCOEs. AAI in collaboration with SAI came up with the tournaments with an objective to enhance domestic competitions and ensure mass participation to broad base and allow interested athletes from the nearby Zonal States to come and compete. It has also been decided to host the Khelo India Monthly Archery Competitions on the 1st Sunday of every month.
Union Minister of Sports for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Anurag Singh Thakur had mentioned the importance of organising such competitions during the launch of the Khelo India Women's Hockey League  in New Delhi last year. He had said, “Competitions and exposures like these are important for any athlete and if we keep organizing them, the athletes will not only get a chance to play a lot of times in a year but also be prepared for further important tournaments coming up for them. SAI has organized the Khelo India league tournaments keeping this in mind and I thank the federations too for providing the opportunity for these youngsters.”
Eminent Dignitaries including Padma Shri & Arjuna Awardee Bombayla Devi Laishram, and Arjuna Awardee Mangal Singh Champia graced the tournament with their presence as a Guest of Honour, at SAI Kolkata centre on Sunday. With the AAI mission 'Har Ghar Archery Har Gaon Archery' in mind, the main aim of the tournament is to enhance domestic competition, mass participation and to give an opportunity to the Archers.
The Khelo India Archery Tournaments  is also being held in coordination with the respective State Associations who are providing all the technical help in conducting the tournaments.
Total participation figures:
NCOE Sonepat : 190
NCOE Kolkata : 75
NCOE Aurangabad : 151
NCOE Guwahati : 52
NCOE Imphal : 118
Prime Minister's Office
PM condoles the demise of former Karnataka CM Shri N. Dharam Singh
PM condoles the demise of former Karnataka CM Shri N. Dharam Singh
(The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has condoled the demise of former Karnataka CM Shri N. Dharam Singh.
“Saddened by the demise of former Karnataka CM Shri N. Dharam Singh. My thoughts are with his family & supporters in this sad hour.
Shri N. Dharam Singh had rich experience in Karnataka & national politics. His dedicated service towards society will be remembered.” the Prime Minister said.
Prime Minister's Office
PM celebrates Bronze medal in Men's Speed Skating 3000m Relay at Asian Games 2022
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated Anandkumar Velkumar, Siddhant Rahul Kamble, and Vikram Rajendra Ingale on winning the Bronze medal in Men's Speed Skating 3000m Relay at the Asian Games 2022 in Hangzhou.
The Prime Minister posted on X:
“Incredible display of teamwork brings home yet another Bronze Medal!
Anandkumar Velkumar, Siddhant Rahul Kamble, Vikram Rajendra Ingale have the Bronze in the Men's Speed Skating 3000m Relay.
India is overjoyed and takes immense pride in this accomplishment!”
Ministry of Finance
ADB, India sign $190 million loan for improving road connectivity in Rajasthan
The Asian Development Bank and the Government of India yesterday signed a $190 million loan to upgrade 754 kilometres of state highways and major district roads  to two-lane or intermediate-lane standards that will benefit about 26 million people in 14 districts of Rajasthan.
The signatories to the Tranche 2 loan agreement for the Rajasthan State Highway Investment Programme were Shri Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary , Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Government of India, and Mr Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, who signed for ADB. The Tranche 1 loan of $220 million under the Programme, signed in July 2017, upgraded about 1,000 km of state roads.
Shri Khare said after signing the loan agreement that the Tranche 2 roads pass through mostly rural areas of Rajasthan that lack reliable connectivity and will help improve access to health, education facilities and markets leading to increased job opportunities.
Mr Yokoyama emphasised to promote operational efficiencies and innovations and said that the project will encourage participation of private sector through Hybrid Annuity Mode and engineering procurement construction  contracts.
The ADB value-addition will consist in financing part of the construction costs for the annuity-based public private partnership  concessions and EPC contracts and ensure good governance during project implementation, particularly on procurement and safeguards. The annuity-based PPP model attracts private sector financing to address capital investment requirements, where a proportion of initial capital expenditure is paid during construction while the balance is serviced by annuity payments during the operation and maintenance phase. The toll collection rights will remain with the state public works department to bring sustainability in operation and maintenance of the project.
For the benefit of commuters and pedestrians, particularly women and children, the project provides for constructing more than 200 bus stops, 70 km of hard shoulder, and 2 km of raised sidewalk on project roads.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. In 2018, it made commitments of new loans and grants amounting to $21.5 billion. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.
Competition Commission of India
CCI approves investment in Ecom Express Private Limited  by CDC Group plc , under Section 31 of the Competition Act, 2002
The Competition Commission of India  approves investment in Ecom Express Private Limited  by CDC Group plc , under Section 31 of the Competition Act, 2002
The Proposed Combination relates to investment in Ecom by CDC.
CDC is a Development Finance Institution, wholly owned by the DFID, UK Government, which is stated to provide scarce and patient capital to private sector entrepreneurs in developing countries.
Ecom is engaged in delivery, fulfilment & warehousing and digital services such as e-KYC facilitation for the customers of banks, NBFCs and other companies that require such services; facilitation towards verification of the assets of said customers; facilitation towards contact point verification of said customers; and facilitation of the Digital Original Seen and Verified service.
Detailed order of the CCI will follow.
Ministry of Science & Technology
CSIR to establish a High-End Skill Development Centre in Chandigarh.
India’s premier National Research Laboratory CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology  today announced a new partnership with Merck, a leading German science and technology company, to establish a ‘High End Skill Development Centre’ in CSIR-IMTECH, Chandigarh. Equipped with the next generation technologies, like gene editing & single-molecule biomarker detection, the centre will help accelerate healthcare research and train Indian students and researchers in latest life science technologies and make them industry ready.
Under the Memorandum of Understanding, Merck in collaboration with CSIR-IMTECH will use their expertise in Life Science to build a centre which will help researchers and students develop advanced competencies and analytical skills required for life science research. This will be a first of its kind, Academia-Industry-led, ‘High End Skill Development Centre’ laboratory in Chandigarh that has been established to augment Government of India’s initiative for skilling India in the area of Life Science.
This ‘High End Skill Development Centre’ will enrich skills by conducting workshops, trainings and seminar series on cutting edges life science processes, tools and techniques. The centre will facilitate hands-on experience to learning and real time sample analysis. The proposed state of the art Centre will integrate Work-based and Research-based learning by providing next generation lab set-up for carrying out real time sample analysis and learning workshops for selected group of technologies in the domain of Life Sciences.
The event was presided over by Dr., Director General of CSIR & Secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research  and representatives of Merck at the CSIR Headquarters, New Delhi.
DG-CSIR Dr. Shekhar C. Mande , present on the occasion said that this collaboration resonates with the Government of India's mission of ‘Skill India’ and would be a new benchmark for up scaling employability skills for graduates and post graduates who are aspiring to make a career in the life science sector.
Expanding on the contours of this MoU, the Director of CSIR-IMTECH, Dr. Anil Koul said that collaboration with leading companies like Merck will bring a paradigm shift in the way knowledge alliances like these are created in public-private partnership mode.
The Centre will have skill development-oriented curriculum and real-time exposure to the cutting-edge technologies which will be further strengthened after assessing initial outcomes. This High-End Skill Development Centre will function on the principle of “no-profit, no-loss” basis and has been primarily created to augment Government of India’s initiative for building skills in the area of Life Science.
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
Production of Palm Oil
The State-wise and year-wise details of Crude Palm Oil  and the percentage share of Andhra Pradesh in the total production of CPO during last five years is given at Annexure-I.
As per ICAR-IIOPR, Oil Palm requires less water compared to crops like Rice, Banana and
Sugarcane for its optimum cultivation. Under the National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm , emphasis has been given to promote micro irrigation and water conservation in oil palm for efficient water management and judicious use of water.
Oil Palm is not covered under One District One Product  scheme.
The State-wise and year-wise details of Crude Palm Oil during last five years from 2016-17 to 2020-21

|
|
Sl.
No
|
|
State
|
|
2016-17
|
|
2017-18
|
|
2018-19
|
|
2019-20
|
|
2020-21
|
|
1
|
|
Andhra Pradesh 
|
|
190999
|
|
234696
|
|
232938
|
|
208359
|
|
240016
|
|
2
|
|
Goa
|
|
436
|
|
379
|
|
411
|
|
309
|
|
305
|
|
3
|
|
Karnataka
|
|
2051
|
|
2224
|
|
2280
|
|
2184
|
|
2734
|
|
4
|
|
Kerala
|
|
5989
|
|
5191
|
|
4857
|
|
4825
|
|
4281
|
|
5
|
|
Mizoram
|
|
603
|
|
648
|
|
625
|
|
535
|
|
675
|
|
6
|
|
Tamil Nadu
|
|
1194
|
|
938
|
|
1017
|
|
532
|
|
698
|
|
7
|
|
Telangana
|
|
8947
|
|
27274
|
|
37205
|
|
38050
|
|
39347
|
|
|
|
All India
|
|
210219
|
|
271349
|
|
279332
|
|
254794
|
|
288056
|
|
|
|
% share of AP
|
|
90.86
|
|
86.49
|
|
83.39
|
|
81.77
|
|
83.32
This information was given by Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.